KeithCharles SPACEBAR

In his book Hit Makers, author Derek Thompson unceremoniously drops this gold nugget of wisdom: “The chaos of life is a chronic condition for which stories are the remedy.” First of all, whoa. Secondly, what, then, are the stories we tell ourselves? For me, the story I tell myself is that the myriad of little, daily decisions I make as a recent LA transplant will pay dividends in the long run. In other words, I convince myself that I’m working towards something, and there’s nothing particularly unique about my story. It is the same one that’s been sold to us by society: hard work pays off. But what if it doesn’t? This tape is about being new to a place, having self doubt, and being a tad bit delusional in the pursuit of your calling.

A few things happened in the making of this mix: 1.) I got lost down a SoundCloud wormhole in which I randomly discovered a lot of British talent, and 2.) I started actively studying the so-called “classics” of modern music. The first point is just to explain all of the British accents you are about to hear on this tape. The second point has sparked a much more profound change in my music listening habits. Hearing the standards of a Joni Mitchell or a Stevie Wonder has made me consider the ingredients that go into “timeless” music, and it has forced me to reevaluate and recalibrate my thinking on current trends as I compare them with those of yesteryear. Of course, through all of this pondering, I got no real answers. I have yet to crack the full formula for timelessness, but I know a key ingredient is brutal and pure honesty that is representative of the time in which you live. GODSPEED is focused on delivering in that regard, and hopefully, the resulting mix captures the angst and unease you would expect from music in these uncertain times.

I was alright ’til they took me off my medication, started slagging off my generation, and I don’t know why And now all night, sitting talking ’bout a revolution, c-c-coughing up the p-pollution, and I can’t breathe right

NOTE: Original image of Gustav Metzger. Edit and design by Arjun Grover.

“Blending” is the solo debut from ZAN, who is currently a resident of New York but has a Jamaican heritage. The Jon B-sampling single is an audio interpolation of a beach vacation with your lover. Listening to it, you can just imagine one of those cliché 90’s R&B videos with the guy singing to his girlfriend while she participates in mundane activities. That being said, there is nothing cliché about Zan’s sound. He is “blending” R&B, trap, and reggae in a much less forced way than some of his counterparts.

My rule of thumb is three good songs before I am sold on an artist. We have one and a half below. Stay tuned for more ZAN (hopefully) on the way soon.